Trust Issues
by catie-writes-things
Summary: It starts with Gabriel deciding it's time he and his son were honest with each other. Who can you trust if not family? But Adrien has his own ideas about who deserves his confidence, and things get more difficult from there. [Or: The truth comes out, bit by bit]
1. A Matter of Trust

"Darkwings fall." There was a flash of purple light, and where Hawk Moth had been a moment ago, Gabriel Agreste now stood in his place.

"No," Chat Noir breathed. "That's impossible. You were akumatized…"

"A necessary deception," his father explained calmly. "Ladybug was too close to the truth, and I had to take some risks to preserve my secret." His eyes narrowed accusingly. "But you'd understand that, wouldn't you, Adrien?"

Chat Noir was suddenly very glad that Ladybug had failed to come to his aid. "What makes you think that I'm Adrien?" he asked stubbornly.

"Does it matter?" his father asked. "Isn't it time for you and I to stop hiding from each other?"

A chirping sound came from his ring, reminding Chat Noir that if he couldn't escape, there would soon be little point to maintaining his charade. He didn't see any way out. He might as well detransform now, and get it over with. But he wanted to hold out as long as he could. He wanted to not be Adrien Agreste for as long as he could.

"In the spirit of honesty," his father went on. "Let me share with you the reason why I have done everything." He turned away from Chat Noir, towards the painting of Adrien's mother. "Unless you've already guessed," he said softly.

"What does any of this have to do with her?" Chat Noir said carefully, still refusing to confirm anything. His ring chirped again.

His father glanced over his shoulder, eyeing Chat Noir's ring. "Has Ladybug never told you the true power of your miraculous?" he asked. "Doesn't she trust you?"

"Of course she does," Chat Noir insisted, trying to sound casual about it, as if he really were someone else, and everything Gabriel was saying was nonsense. "Ladybug and I tell each other everything."

His father turned halfway back towards him. "Even your true identities?"

Chat Noir's ring chirped a third time. He said nothing.

"That's what I thought," his father said with a nod. "There are many things she has kept from you, including what your miraculous and hers would be capable of, if they were used together."

Chat Noir's curiosity got the better of him. "What would that be?" he asked without thinking.

His father might have looked pleased, but Chat Noir wasn't sure. It wasn't a look he saw very often. "If one person were to possess them both, they would be granted one wish," his father explained. "There would be no limits. They could alter reality itself." He turned back towards the portrait. "They could even undo the past."

"You want her back," Chat Noir said, his voice shaking.

"Don't you?" his father replied.

Chat Noir's ring chirped one last time, and with a flash of green light, he was Adrien again.

His father turned, walked towards him, and reached for him. Adrien flinched away, but his father made no move to take his ring. He only pulled his son into a hug. "I never wanted to hurt you," he said, cradling the back of Adrien's head in one hand. "Everything I have done has only ever been for the sake of our family."

Adrien pushed him away. "All those people you tried to hurt," he accused. "If Ladybug hadn't stopped you…"

"Then your mother would be here with us now," his father said darkly.

"That doesn't make it okay!" Adrien shouted. He had never shouted at his father before. Adrien never shouted. Chat Noir might lose his temper, but Adrien never did.

"If you find my methods unacceptable," his father replied, crossing his arms sternly, "then help me do things in a better way."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Adrien asked bitterly.

His father placed both hands on his shoulders. "I promise I will make no more attempts to take your miraculous, or Ladybug's," he offered, the very picture of sincerity. "If you can get her miraculous yourself."

"I can't," Adrien protested. He could never do that to Ladybug…

"Why not?" his father asked. "If you're really so close, I'm sure you can find some way to persuade her."

Adrien wished he could find strong words to refuse, that he could say it wasn't even tempting. But to have his mother with them again, no more cold distance between him and his father, no more akumas...no more Ladybug and Chat Noir.

"Father, please," he said weakly. "Don't make me do this."

"I'm not making you do anything," his father replied. "I'm trusting you, Adrien, to do the right thing."


	2. Trust Fall

"Ladybug, I really need your help. Please come quickly."

Chat Noir's final message had been short and desperate. Marinette had never heard him sound so serious, and that alone would have been enough for her to drop everything and meet him on the north tower of Notre Dame Cathedral like he'd requested. The earlier calls for help that she'd missed only made her more anxious. She hoped that she wasn't coming to his aid too late.

It was late at night, and while the cathedral was still illuminated, the crowds of tourists were absent from the square below when Ladybug finally joined Chat Noir. She was surprised to find him seated on the stone balustrade at the edge of the roof, feet dangling in the air and shoulders slumped. He didn't look ready for a fight.

"I'm sorry I didn't get your messages earlier," Ladybug apologized. "I came as soon as I could."

Chat Noir half-heartedly turned his head in her direction. "That's okay," he said. "You're here now."

"So what's going on?" Ladybug asked, leaning against the balustrade next to him and trying to catch his eye. "Has someone been akumatized?"

"No, there's no akuma this time," Chat Noir replied sadly, avoiding eye contact. "Hawk Moth is trying a new strategy."

Ladybug tensed. "How did you find out?"

Chat Noir finally looked up at her, tentatively, green cat eyes peeking out from underneath the blond hair that fell in his face. "He told me," he said softly.

"You spoke to him?" Ladybug asked incredulously. "In person? But why would he just tell you his new plan?"

"Because," Chat Noir said, then swallowed and swung one leg over the balustrade so he was now straddling it, and facing her. "Because he thought he could convince me to help him."

Ladybug laughed in relief. "Really? That's his brilliant idea? What's he going to try next, saying pretty please?" She shook her head. "You had me worried for a second there, Kitten."

Chat Noir scowled. "This is serious, Ladybug." She realized belatedly he hadn't used a single nickname for her in this entire conversation.

"I'm sorry, you're right," she admitted. "Hawk Moth is no laughing matter. But obviously his new plan is a dud. You have no reason to help him."

Chat Noir closed his eyes. "He knows who I am," he said in a very small voice, with none of his usual boldness.

"Oh no," Ladybug breathed, putting a hand to her mouth. "How did he find out?"

"I don't exactly know," Chat Noir replied, sounding once again as desperate as he had in his last message. He opened his eyes, and it was hard to tell under the mask in the dim light, but Ladybug thought he might have been crying. "It doesn't matter, anyway. I asked you to come here, because I need to tell you everything."

"No," Ladybug said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We agreed, Chat Noir. Neither of us can know anything about the other's life." Whatever Hawk Moth tried to do with the knowledge, they'd find some way to stop him, surely, without taking that risk...

"But Hawk Moth knows about me. That changes everything," Chat Noir insisted. "And I need you to understand…I'm trusting you, Ladybug." He swung his other leg over onto the roof and stood, pulling away from her touch, then took a deep breath. "Claws in."

"No, wait-" Ladybug called, but it was too late. The transformation happened in an instant, green light and then Chat Noir was gone, and in his place stood…

"Adrien?" she asked weakly. She was used to her head spinning around him, but this was totally different. Adrien was Chat Noir, the friend she relied on, the partner she fought side-by-side with...and the boy who was hopelessly in love with her. Or at least, with Ladybug.

But she had more important things to worry about right now.

With the mask gone, the tears in Adrien's eyes were now plain to see. "You were right, after all, Ladybug," he said miserably. "My father is Hawk Moth. That's why he told me. He thinks I'll try to get your miraculous so I can use it with mine, to bring my mom back. Apparently, that's what he's wanted them for all along."

"Adrien, I had no idea," Ladybug said sympathetically. But her fingers twitched nervously towards her yo-yo. She didn't want to think that Adrien would even consider going along with Hawk Moth's plan, but she knew how much he wanted his father's approval, and how much he missed his mother…

"You have nothing to worry about from me," Adrien said, as if he could read her mind. He looked down at his right hand, where he wore the silver ring that Ladybug now realized looked just like Chat Noir's. "I'd never try to take your miraculous from you," he declared. "But if what my father said about their powers is true…" He slipped the ring off his finger, and held it out to her in the palm of his hand. "Could you do it?"

He looked so hopeful, she had to consciously remind herself of Master Fu's warning. "I'm sorry Adrien," she said, taking his hand and closing his fingers around the ring. "That power...it's too dangerous..."

"So it is possible!" Adrien exclaimed, as if that were all he had heard. "Please, Ladybug," he begged. A cool breeze tousled his hair, making him look more wild, almost more like Chat Noir. Ladybug let go of his hand and hugged herself against the chill. "It's not just that I want her back," Adrien was saying. "It's my father, too. He'll have no reason to akumatize anyone anymore."

"How do you know that's really all he's after?" Ladybug questioned. "He could want that power for other reasons, too."

"He promised me," Adrien said simply.

Ladybug frowned. "And you believe him?"

"It's worth a try, isn't it?" Adrien insisted. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Ladybug shook her head. "He didn't tell you everything about the wish power, did he?" She tugged nervously at one of her pigtails. It was such a _Marinette_ gesture, she immediately kicked herself for doing it, but if Adrien noticed, he gave no indication. "Whatever you do with it, there has to be a balance," she explained. "If you use it to save someone's life, somebody else loses theirs."

Adrien's shoulders slumped, and his hand, still closed in a fist around his ring, fell back to his side. "You're right, my father didn't mention that," he said dejectedly.

"Well, maybe he doesn't know about that part?" Ladybug suggested with an awkward shrug. She couldn't believe she was defending Hawk Moth, but Adrien looked so disappointed. It did seem cruel, if his father had kept that from him on purpose to try to trick him into using a power he didn't fully understand. But then, it was Hawk Moth. Wasn't he always using people like that?

"Yeah, maybe," Adrien agreed half-heartedly, returning the ring to his finger. He turned away from her and wiped furtively at his eyes. "I just really wanted to believe it was that simple, you know? That my mom would come back and everything would be okay."

Ladybug's instinct was to reach for him again, but she hesitated. It was one thing when he was Chat Noir. Could she comfort him like that, as Ladybug, when he was Adrien Agreste? But when she saw his shoulders start to shake, she threw caution to the wind, grabbed him, and pulled him into a hug.

Adrien stiffened in surprise at first, but then leaned into her, wrapping his arms around her waist like he had when they danced at Chloe's party. Well, when he danced with Marinette. This was so confusing, her knowing who he was when he didn't know the truth about her.

"Listen, Adrien," Ladybug said after a moment, "do you actually know what happened to your mom?" She felt him shake his head against her shoulder. "Then you don't know that using the miraculous is the only way to get her back." She patted his back awkwardly with one hand. "We're superheroes, right? We have to be able to figure something out."

He pulled away from her embrace and wiped at his eyes again with the heel of his hand. "Thanks, Ladybug," he said softly. It took her a moment to notice in the near-darkness, but she realized that he was blushing. Of course he was blushing, he'd just cried all over the girl he had a crush on. Ladybug felt her own face flush as she realized that Adrien _had a crush on her_ and he'd just _cried all over her_. All over Ladybug? This was ridiculous.

"Um, since you told me who you are," Ladybug began, fidgeting nervously with her hands. "Well, I mean, you're Adrien, I know who you are, but you told me you're Chat Noir, too...or I guess Chat Noir told me he's you...anyway, the point is, I feel like I should…"

"No, Ladybug," Adrien interrupted her rambling. It was a miracle that hadn't been enough to give her identity away. There couldn't possibly be another girl who could make as much of a fool of herself around Adrien as Marinette could. "You don't owe me your secret just because I told you mine," Adrien went on. "I don't want you to tell me who you are because you feel like you have to. If you do decide to share that with me someday, it should be because it's what you want."

Ladybug frowned. "But you told me because you felt like you had to," she pointed out. That didn't seem fair to him, that she got a choice and he didn't.

"Yeah, I did," Adrien agreed, then chuckled and ran a hand through his hair in that flustered way that made her knees weak. "But you know what? It's such a relief that you know now." He looked her straight in the eye, with total openness and intensity. "I've never wanted to keep anything from you."

Yep. This was really confusing.

"Uh huh," Ladybug replied stupidly, staring into Adrien's green eyes, before she got ahold of herself once more. There was still the little problem of Adrien's dad being their greatest enemy. "We should go talk to Master Fu about this in the morning," she said more sensibly. "The Hawk Moth situation, I mean."

"Right," Adrien agreed, looking up at the dark sky. "Look, I don't really want to go home right now, but I don't know how to explain to anyone…"

"You, uh, want me to talk to one of your friends for you?" Ladybug offered tentatively. People were more accepting of cryptic explanations from masked superheroes, for some reason. She figured Adrien would want to stay with Nino, or maybe Chloe, since they'd known each other so long. Both of them were big Ladybug fans, so it wouldn't be hard.

"Could you?" Adrien asked, rubbing the back of his neck and avoiding her eyes again. "I don't know if you know my friend Marinette…"

"Marinette?" Ladybug nearly shouted in surprise. "Oh, um, yes, I know her."

Adrien shrugged, still looking at the roof of the tower beneath his feet. "She's helped me out before, when I needed to lie low. Do you think she'd mind doing it again?"

"Well, sure," Ladybug replied. "I mean, no, I don't think she'd mind. We'd just have to, uh, ask her parents?" She cleared her throat. "Which I'd be happy to do for you."

"Thanks," Adrien said sincerely, looking up at her again. "You've helped me so much."

"Of course," Ladybug said. "We're partners, right? We help each other." Adrien just smiled at her, and there was a moment of silence, which was awkward at least on Ladybug's part, before she cleared her throat again. "So, we should get going, before it gets any later." She grasped her yo-yo in hand, preparing to swing down from the tower, then glanced back at Adrien. "It'd probably be better if you, um…" She mimed claws with her free hand. Not that she couldn't get both of them where they needed to be, but he was perfectly capable of keeping up with her as Chat Noir.

"Oh, right," Adrien said. He pulled his outer shirt away from his chest, and a dark shape that Ladybug took to be his kwami flew out of the inner pocket. She was surprised the kwami had kept quiet this whole time. "Plagg, claws out," Adrien commanded, and in a moment Chat Noir was with her once more. "After you, my lady," he said with an exaggerated bow, his signature cheeky grin just a little more subdued than usual.

Ladybug hurriedly let her yo-yo fly and swung away before he could notice how much her face flushed. She knew Chat Noir had excellent night vision. She didn't look back, trusting him to follow her.


	3. Trustworthy

They landed back at street level around the corner from Marinette's house, and after double checking that the street was deserted, Chat Noir transformed back into Adrien. It was still weird for Ladybug to see that happen. His kwami whined some complaint about how many times they had changed back and forth this evening, but Adrien shushed him and ushered him back into his hiding place in his pocket.

Ladybug led the way as they walked up to the private entrance to the side of the bakery. She squared her shoulders and rang the doorbell. There was no answer at first, but that was to be expected at this odd hour. Sure enough, after a few minutes, both of her parents came to the door, very confused to see her. Well, Ladybug.

"Good evening, Mr. Dupain, Mrs. Cheng," Ladybug said in her practiced superhero voice. "I'm sorry to disturb you so late, but I was hoping you could help me with something. You know Marinette's friend Adrien, right?" She indicated the boy who stood to her side and a little behind.

Her parents looked at Adrien, who waved sheepishly, then back at her, still confused. "Is everything alright?" her mother asked. "Should we go get Marinette?"

"No!" Ladybug said a little too quickly. "I mean, you don't have to wake her up." Getting a hold of herself, she went on, "Adrien just needs a place to stay, for his own safety. I'll be keeping an eye on him, too, but we thought it would be best if he stayed with a friend."

"Well, of course," her father replied. "We'd be happy to help any friend of Marinette's."

"Thank you," Adrien spoke up at last. "I really appreciate it."

Ladybug said her goodbyes and left Adrien in her parents' care as she hurried up to the roof, jumped through the trapdoor into her room, and destrasformed. Tikki darted behind the computer on her desk, and Marinette had just thrown herself into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin when she heard the door from downstairs open. Sure enough, her mom had come to check on her after all. Marinette pretended to stir as if she had just been woken up, glad that she had already been wearing her pajamas when she had transformed into Ladybug earlier that evening.

"Marinette?" her mother said gently. "I'm sorry to wake you…"

"That's alright," Marinette replied as she sat up. "What's going on? I thought I heard voices downstairs." Some part of her, deep down, cringed at how easily the lies came these days, but it was all part of the superhero business.

"Ladybug was here," her mother explained. "Your friend Adrien is going to stay with us for a while. Something about keeping him safe. I hope that's okay with you?"

Marinette tried to look surprised. "Why wouldn't it be okay?"

Her mother patted her hand. "That's good to hear."

"Do you need my help with anything?" Marinette offered.

"No, your father's getting him settled in the guest room. Don't worry about anything." Her mother leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Just go back to sleep, dear."

Marinette lay back down. "Alright. Goodnight, Mom." Her mother said goodnight as well, and finally left. Marinette rolled over and groaned softly into her pillow.

She felt Tikki land on her shoulder. "Your mother's right, Marinette," the kwami said softly. "You should sleep now." And Marinette was exhausted enough that in spite of how her brain was still buzzing with the revelation that _Adrien was Chat Noir,_ she did.

* * *

When she woke up the next morning, Marinette could almost believe she had dreamed the previous night's events, except that Adrien was sitting at her kitchen table, wearing one of her dad's old t-shirts and a pair of her own gym shorts. That was just too bizarre, even for a product of her overactive imagination. That Adrien was also Chat Noir seemed normal by comparison.

"Hey, Marinette," Adrien said shyly around a spoonful of cereal as she sat down across from him at the table. "I don't know if your parents explained…"

"Oh yeah, no big deal, my mom told me," Marinette said, reaching for the box of cereal and nearly knocking over the milk bottle in the process. She caught it with her other hand and shrugged, pouring cereal into the bowl her mom had set out for her. "You needed somewhere to stay, Ladybug brought you here, and now you're in my shorts." The cereal spilled all over the table. "Kitchen!" she corrected herself frantically. "You're in my kitchen. Wearing my shorts."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Adrien replied. He shrugged, and the too-large t-shirt slipped off of one shoulder. Marinette became incredibly preoccupied with gathering up the spilled bran flakes. "I didn't get a chance to pack a bag or anything."

"Oh, it's fine," Marinette said as casually as she could. She reached for the milk, and poured it very carefully. Success. Internally, she gave a sigh of relief. She needed to get over these ridiculous jitters around Adrien, now that she knew he was Chat Noir. She couldn't act like this if they had to fight an akuma…

They ate in awkward silence for a moment. Marinette realized that as far as Adrien knew, she should have no idea why he couldn't stay at his own house, and he probably expected her to be more curious about it. But would he actually want to talk about it with her? Well, with her as Marinette. Obviously he had wanted to talk about it with her as Ladybug. But then, he must have asked to stay with Marinette instead of Nino or Chloe for a reason.

"So, whatever's going on with you at home," Marinette began tentatively. Adrien's eyes darted to one side as if looking for an explanation. Marinette went on before he could say anything. "You don't have to tell me, if it's personal," she assured him. "But I hope you and Ladybug can work it out soon."

"Thanks, Marinette," Adrien said. "I hope so, too. I don't want to impose on you and your parents any longer than I have to."

"It's no imposition," Marinette's mother cut in as she came upstairs from the bakery. "We're happy to have you here. But you two need to start getting ready for school."

Right. School. With everything that had happened last night, Marinette had forgotten all about it. It looked like their visit to Master Fu might have to wait.

Adrien must have been thinking something similar. "Um, Ladybug said she was going to stop by this morning," he said.

"She'll probably be here soon," Marinette said, standing up, perhaps a bit too quickly. "Anyway, Mom's right, I'm gonna go get ready," she said hurriedly, dumping her empty cereal bowl in the sink and heading for the ladder to her room. "See you in a bit!"

When she was safely in her room, she sank to the floor, leaning against her bed. Tikki popped out of her hiding place underneath the pillow. "I'm not sure letting Adrien stay here was such a good idea, Marinette," the kwami said. "If he's living in close quarters, he's bound to notice something's up with you and Ladybug eventually."

 _Living in close quarters._ Marinette groaned and hid her face in her hands. "You're right, Tikki. This is terrible! I can barely have an intelligent conversation with Adrien, and now I'm supposed to work with him as Ladybug, knowing he's Chat Noir, and also talk to him as Marinette, who's _not_ supposed to know he's Chat Noir, but secretly does, all while he's living at Marinette's house and sleeping in Marinette's gym shorts?"

"You're talking about yourself in the third person," Tikki pointed out with concern.

"I get why he said it was a relief to tell me his identity," Marinette said, tugging anxiously at one of her pigtails. "It would be so much simpler right now if he knew mine, too."

"It would still be a big risk," Tikki cautioned. "Especially now that we know his father is Hawk Moth."

"Adrien would never betray us," Marinette said, crossing her arms defensively. "Not even to his father." If he were going to, he wouldn't have come to her right away when his father's secret was revealed. He wouldn't have told her everything.

"Maybe not intentionally," Tikki agreed. "But his father could still find out, if he knew. He figured out Adrien was Chat Noir somehow."

That did raise another uncomfortable question. "You don't think Adrien's dad is...spying on him or something?"

Tikki spread her little arms wide, the kwami equivalent of a shrug. "Would you put it past Hawk Moth to spy on his son?"

"I guess not," Marinette admitted. Poor Adrien. His dad was the only family he had… She got to her feet with renewed resolve. "But at any rate, Ladybug still has to make an appearance," she said. "Tikki, spots on!"

* * *

Ladybug carefully snuck out through the balcony, swung down to the street level, and came back in through the bakery, where she found her father setting out a batch of freshly made croissants. "Good morning, Mr. Dupain," she greeted him politely. "I need to speak to Adrien."

"Of course," her father replied. "I'll just go get him."

As her father hurried upstairs, Ladybug took a moment to be thankful that her own family was so free from drama. Sure, keeping up a secret identity could be difficult at times, but her parents were both around and supportive. She couldn't imagine how Adrien was getting by.

The boy in question darted down the stairs, grinning like sunshine in spite of everything, and thankfully wearing his own clothes again. "Ladybug!" he said happily. "It's good to see you!"

"Let's talk somewhere more private," Ladybug said, grabbing his hand and dragging him out of the bakery. She nearly walked smack into the glass door, remembering at the last minute to push it open ahead of her. She really needed to get it together. With more of her typical self-assurance, she swung her yo-yo and grappled both of them up onto the roof of the building next door.

"I know we said we would talk to Master Fu this morning," Adrien said as soon as his feet touched down on the roof, with Ladybug's arm still around his waist. "But I forgot about school."

"Yeah, I did, too," Ladybug replied. Realizing their proximity, she hastily let him go and retreated back a step. "Forgot we had school, that is," she clarified. "I mean, you have school and so do I. I also go to a school, that's no secret." A voice in her head that sounded suspiciously like Alya warned her to quit while she was ahead, and Ladybug clamped her mouth shut firmly.

"I know it seems crazy with everything happening," Adrien said, unfazed. "But I'd like to have as much of a normal day as I can." He shoved both hands into his pockets and shrugged. "Do you think Master Fu could wait until this afternoon?"

To be honest, Ladybug would appreciate a little extra time to sort things out in her own head before they went to see the Guardian. But she wasn't going to procrastinate for that reason alone. "I don't know," she said uncertainly. "Isn't your father going to be worried you didn't come home last night? Do you think he'll...do something?" She didn't have to say what he might do.

"I don't think he will," Adrien said, shaking his head and shoving his hands further into his pockets. "At least not right away. He's still giving me my chance to get your miraculous, remember?"

Right. As far as Hawk Moth knew, Adrien was still a potential double agent. Good thing she knew him better than his father did.

"That does buy us some time," Ladybug agreed. "We shouldn't push it, though. I'll come back here to get you this afternoon." She folded her arms, thinking for a moment. "And maybe you should...check in with your father? Just tell him you stayed over with a friend last night, no details."

Adrien sighed reluctantly. "You're probably right," he said. He didn't look very happy about the idea of talking to his father, though. Understandable.

"I'll leave you to that, then," Ladybug said. He could get himself down from the roof one way or another, and she still needed to sneak back into her room and get dressed for school. She'd have to go some distance out of her way, though, so Adrien wouldn't realize where she was going. Tikki hadn't been wrong about this arrangement being risky.

She took one last look back at Adrien before she left. He had his phone out, and was staring at his father's contact info on the screen, brows furrowed. He looked nervous. "Hey, Kitty Cat," she called, hoping the nickname would at least get a smile out of him again. It did, and her stomach fluttered. "You got this," she told him. Then she swung to the next roof before she could do or say anything else stupid.

* * *

By the time Marinette came back downstairs ready for school, a silver car had pulled up to the curb in front of the bakery, and Adrien was engaged in an argument with his father's assistant. "He said he trusted me," Adrien was complaining to her as Marinette and her father came outside.

"Is there a problem, Adrien?" Marinette's father asked carefully.

Nathalie answered before Adrien could. "Mr. Agreste sent me to make sure his son was safe," she explained. "Given that Adrien never came home last night, and no one felt the need to inform his father of his whereabouts until this morning, you can understand how worried he would be."

"Not worried enough to come get me himself," Adrien muttered darkly. Marinette couldn't help but feel sorry for him, even though Hawk Moth showing up at her house was really the last thing they wanted.

"Ladybug asked us to look after him," Marinette's father replied, placing a hand protectively on Adrien's shoulder. Adrien started at the gesture. "You can reassure Mr. Agreste that we are doing just that."

"I don't see why Adrien should need your protection," Nathalie said.

"I'm sure you don't," Marinette's father shot back. "But until Ladybug says he is in no more danger, we will continue to do what she asked of us."

Nathalie stared at Marinette's father impassively for a moment, before returning her attention to the boy in question. "Do you feel the same way, Adrien?" she asked.

Adrien raised his chin defiantly. "Yes," he said.

Nathalie was unfazed. "Your father thought you might," she said as neutrally as ever. Opening the door of the car, she reached into the back seat and pulled out Adrien's school bag, as well as a green duffel bag that Marinette recognized as the one he usually used for his fencing gear. "You'll at least want these," she said, holding them out to Adrien.

Adrien blinked in surprise as he took his things from her. "My father's really going to let me stay here?"

"For now," Nathalie replied ominously. "As long as you call to check in with him at least once a day, he will allow it. As you said, he trusts you." She shut the car door, and walked around to the driver's side. Before she got in, she looked back at Adrien pointedly. "Don't forget what he is trusting you to do."

Adrien scowled at the car as it drove away, but then shook his head and looked up at Marinette's father with a grateful smile. "Thank you, sir," he said, without elaborating.

"Of course," her father said, giving Adrien's shoulder a final pat before letting his hand fall. "Now go on, both of you, don't be late for school."

Marinette kissed her father goodbye, and she and Adrien headed down the block. "Did you tell your dad where you were?" Marinette asked cautiously after a moment of walking in silence. She'd told him to leave out any specific details. Was he having trouble keeping things from his father now?

"No," Adrien replied sadly. "He probably traced my phone."

So Adrien's father did spy on him. Tikki had been right about that, too. The arguments for not telling him her own secret identity were mounting.

"It doesn't seem like he trusts you that much," Marinette observed, then winced at how insensitive it sounded. "I mean, I'm sure he is worried about you, but he's got a funny way of showing it." Not an improvement. Why did she even try.

Adrien shook his head. "I'm starting to wonder if he even knows what trust means."

Marinette didn't know what to say to that, and didn't want to risk putting her foot in her mouth yet again, so they lapsed back into silence.

When they met Alya in front of the school not long after, she raised an eyebrow to see Adrien with Marinette, but at Marinette's pointed look didn't say anything. It was actually a relief to have another person with them - it made it easier for Marinette to pretend this was just a normal day, like Adrien wanted it to be, and they were just three classmates on their way to first period with nothing more than last night's algebra homework to worry about.

* * *

That was how the rest of the day went, more or less. Chloe got on everyone's nerves. Ms. Mendeleiev gave too much homework. Marinette was perpetually distracted with thoughts of Adrien, which wasn't out of the ordinary on the face of it. He and Nino ate lunch with her and Alya, and Marinette managed not to spill anything or say anything too ridiculous, though she did bite her own tongue painfully, by accident.

Tikki kept giving Marinette pointed looks from the depths of her school bag, but at no point did Marinette acknowledge it. She still felt guilty about keeping her identity from Adrien, even though he'd told her not to. Yet she had to admit that Tikki was right about the risks of telling him. She would have a hard enough time working with Chat Noir now that she could no longer trust herself not to act like a fool around him. She didn't need to worry about him letting Hawk Moth discover her identity, too, however inadvertently.

At the end of the day, Adrien had a fencing match, and Marinette stuck around to watch, which wasn't that unusual, either. She figured she'd walk him home as herself, make some excuse to step out for a bit, and then come back as Ladybug to bring him to Master Fu. The thought of walking home with Adrien did fill her stomach with butterflies, but she was even more nervous about how their meeting with the Guardian would go. Would Master Fu be upset with Adrien for revealing his identity to her? She hoped not. She also hoped he wouldn't regret choosing to give the miraculous to Adrien, once he found out he was Hawk Moth's son.

A terrible thought occurred to her as she watched Adrien put on his fencing mask and prepare to face his last opponent of the day. What if Master Fu decided to take Adrien's miraculous away from him? He clearly loved being Chat Noir. To lose that, on top of everything else...what would that do to him?

Adrien, at least, didn't seem distracted by such weighty considerations. He was totally focused, and won his final bout with ease. He removed his mask, revealing a satisfied smile at his victory. But instead of making her feel like her insides had turned to goo, the sight gave Marinette a firm feeling of justice. Adrien deserved to be happy at something, after everything he'd been through.

It suddenly occurred to her how ridiculous it was for her to be nervous around Chat Noir, now that she knew he was Adrien. If anything, she should be more confident around Adrien, now that she knew he was Chat Noir. He hadn't changed. He was her partner, she could always rely on him, and the fact that he was also her friend whom she loved made that better, not worse. And whoever his father was, she knew he was trustworthy. He'd already proved that last night.

Marinette joined the crowd of their classmates gathering around Adrien to congratulate him. "Another signature Agreste triumph," Nino said, clapping him on the back.

"Great job, Adrien!" Rose said sweetly.

"Yeah," Marinette agreed, looking Adrien right in the eye without a hint of bashfulness. "Those were some smooth moves, Kitty Cat."

Adrien's mouth dropped open. Marinette clapped a hand over her mouth. Alya sighed, exasperated but sympathetic. Rose stifled a giggle, and even Nino looked like he was trying not to laugh. Another signature Dupain-Cheng disaster.

"Did you just call me…" Adrien said, green eyes wide with disbelief.

"Pfft, no!" Marinette denied pointlessly. "Why would I call you that! Nobody calls you that! Or nobody I know of anyway, maybe someone does, I don't know everything about your life!"

"Alright, Marinette," Alya intervened, looping her arm around her friend's and dragging her away. "Put down the shovel, girl," she whispered.

"I should just never speak again," Marinette whined. She could still feel Adrien staring at her as Alya led her out of the courtyard. He had to have realized what the nickname meant. "I'm taking a vow of silence."

"Yeah, we'll see how long that lasts," Alya replied. She shook her head as they made their way down the steps in front of the school. "Kitty Cat? Really?" she asked. "What on earth possessed you to call him that?"

Marinette shook her head, refusing to answer. Vow of silence, starting right now. It was best for everyone.

"Okay," Alya relented. "I've got to get home. Text me later, O Silent One." She walked a few paces, then turned back to Marinette. "It really wasn't that bad," she said reassuringly. "I think you're overreacting."

Oh, she had no idea.

Marinette sat down at the bottom of the steps to contemplate her misery. She gave half-hearted and stubbornly silent waves to Rose and Nino and the others as they left. Finally, Adrien himself emerged, his gym bag slung over one shoulder. Marinette looked up at him, and he stood perfectly still at the top of the stairs, staring back down at her. The whole world seemed to hold its breath.

Adrien broke the spell first, making his way down the stairs and sitting next to her. "So," he said softly, looking out at the street rather than at her. "Kitty Cat. There's only one person who calls me that." He turned to face her. "And I'm starting to think the last couple days have been almost as weird for her as they have been for me."

Marinette fidgeted with one earring. "I've been thinking about telling you all day," she said, breaking her vow of silence. Alya was right, it hadn't lasted long.

Adrien laughed nervously. "You sure picked an interesting way to do it." He was blushing again. Great, now they were both going to be awkward around each other.

"That, uh, wasn't how I wanted it to happen," Marinette admitted, pressing both hands to the sides of her face and squeezing her eyes shut in embarrassment. If the earth just opened up beneath her and swallowed her whole right now, that would be fine.

"Yeah, I figured," she heard Adrien say. "It just slipped out, right? I've almost done the same thing, actually."

"Really?" she asked in surprise, opening her eyes again. Adrien was staring sheepishly at the sidewalk now. She tried to mentally run through all the times they'd interacted as Marinette and Chat Noir, or Ladybug and Adrien, but she couldn't remember a single thing he'd said that had been out of place. "When was that?"

"When you caught me, that time I jumped off the Montparnasse Tower," Adrien explained. The time he had jumped off a building because she told him to, because he trusted her. "I almost called you…" But whatever nickname he had nearly let slip then, he couldn't seem to bring himself to say it now. "I was surprised you didn't notice, actually," he finished instead.

Marinette let her hands drop from her face, wringing them in her lap instead. "I guess there's a lot of things I never noticed."

"Yeah, me too," Adrien said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, we have no more secrets now, right?" He looked up at her tentatively again, still blushing and shy, and even like that, even knowing who he was and how he felt about her, she couldn't find the words to tell him the one last important thing she was keeping in her heart.

"Right," she lied. "No more secrets." Wow, she was a terrible person, and it was a wonder she didn't get struck by a bolt of lightning right then and there. She cleared her throat, checked her watch, and got to her feet. "We should go see Master Fu, before it gets any later."

Adrien looked up at her as if he was going to say something else, but then nodded and stood as well. "After you," he said, extending his arm to indicate the way with a very Chat Noir grin. "Bugaboo."

Oh, she was definitely not going to survive this.


	4. Mistrust

Adrien's name came up on the screen of his phone, and Gabriel answered the call before the first ring had even finished. "Where are you," he demanded without preamble. He'd known his son might need some space to process everything he'd told him, but staying out all night with no word was not what Gabriel had had in mind. He'd been on the brink of sending an akuma after him again, promise or no promise.

"Don't worry," Adrien said flatly. "I'm fine. I spent the night at a friend's house."

Gabriel's grip tightened on his phone as he turned to face the window. "Which friend?"

"I've been thinking about everything you said," Adrien went on, ignoring his question. "And I'm not sure you need the miraculous to find Mom." His son took a deep breath, a harsh, static sound over the phone. "What really happened to her?"

Gabriel didn't answer. There were things he couldn't tell his son, even now. There was a tense moment of silence. "Which friend are you with?" he finally asked again.

"Well," Adrien said bitterly. "If you can still have your secrets, I can still have mine."

Gabriel frowned at his son's uncharacteristic attitude. He cast about for something else to say. "You should consider very carefully what I asked of you," he said warningly. "I'm still willing to uphold my end of the bargain."

It was Adrien's turn to fall uncomfortably silent, but Gabriel was content that at least it wasn't an immediate rejection. "I'll think about it," his son finally said in a very small voice. "But I'm not telling you where I am," he insisted more firmly. "And I'm not coming home." With those final words of defiance, Adrien disconnected the call.

Gabriel frowned, but didn't bother trying to call his son back. The conversation had been long enough to get a trace. Tossing his phone aside, he went to his computer and pulled up the results. The tracer had narrowed his location down to a small radius in the 21st arrondissement. He wasn't with the Bourgeois girl, then, or his friend with the headphones.

Pulling up Adrien's class roster, Gabriel cross-referenced the addresses of his classmates with the neighborhood in question. Marinette Dupain-Cheng came up as the only result. The name rang a bell. He searched for her across Adrien's social media, and recognized the dark-haired girl that came up in a handful of pictures as the same one who had been erroneously identified as Adrien's girlfriend by his crazed fans.

If this was who his son had gone to, could there be something to those rumors after all? Gabriel immediately shook his head, dismissing the idea. Adrien wasn't dating anyone. He didn't have the time. Gabriel had seen to that.

He flipped through the pictures, looking for some clue as to what the connection was. Adrien didn't seem to be particularly close friends with her, for there weren't many photographs of them together, and most showed them in a larger group of students. Gabriel paused at the one picture that was just the two of them.

It was clear from the angle that Adrien had taken the picture himself. One arm was stretched out in front of him, obviously holding his phone, and the other was thrown around the girl's shoulders as if he had impulsively dragged her into the frame with him. The girl looked flustered and clearly hadn't been prepared to have her picture taken. She was looking down, her head turned away from Adrien in embarrassment.

She was wearing red post earrings.

They weren't a very distinctive design, but Gabriel certainly hoped he would recognize _that_ pair of earrings when he saw them. And he'd been right about Adrien's ring, in the end. Perhaps his son had merely been playing coy when he'd asked him about Ladybug's identity. Why else would he choose to run to this girl, who was by all appearances only an acquaintance of his from school?

But had Adrien gone to her to conspire against him, or to accomplish the task Gabriel had given him? It sounded like his son wasn't even sure himself. This was a delicate situation, which required just the right touch. An additional show of trust, but one that also served as a reminder of who held the cards.

Reaching for his phone again, he paged Nathalie and told her to gather together Adrien's things. He would allow his son to stay with his friend's family for a time, provided he met certain reasonable conditions. But it wouldn't do to have the boy going about ill-dressed.

* * *

Adrien called him again the next morning, in keeping with the terms of their agreement.

"Adrien," Gabriel greeted, more gently than last time. "Have you made any progress?"

He heard his son sigh, though whether it was in sadness or frustration was hard to say over the phone. "Listen, Dad," Adrien began. Gabriel blinked. Adrien had only called him _Father_ for years. The image of a gap-toothed, tow-headed seven-year-old boy came to him unbidden. "I've talked to...to Ladybug," his son went on. "And using the miraculous the way you want to would be really dangerous."

"I see," Gabriel said darkly. "So instead of doing what I asked, you betrayed my trust."

"Don't," Adrien said firmly. "Don't try to accuse me, like I'm the one who's done something wrong here. You're the one who puts people's lives in danger almost every day."

"And as I have already explained," Gabriel replied patiently, flipping idly through the file on his computer of everything he'd gathered about Marinette Dupain-Cheng over the last twenty-four hours. "You have the power to change all that. Is it my fault if you refuse to try?"

"I am trying," Adrien insisted. He sounded petulant. Perhaps, under the pressure, he was reverting to immature habits in more ways than one. "You're not listening to me," he all but whined, as if to confirm his father's assessment.

"I may have expected too much from you," Gabriel admitted in disappointment. He closed out of the Dupain-Cheng file and pulled up the footage from Ladybug and Chat Noir's disastrous first interview on prime time television, playing it on mute. Even without the sound, it was clear that while Ladybug might have played the coquette, his son had only ever been open, even if boyishly inept, in his affections for his fellow superhero. Gabriel should have taken that into account.

"Yeah, well," came Adrien's sulky reply, "the feeling is mutual." Once again, he disconnected the call without saying goodbye. Gabriel frowned at his phone, the screen now dark. His son's attitude really had taken a turn for the worse.

On his computer screen, the clip from the talk show had played to the end, and the next video file had followed. It was news footage of Ladybug catching Adrien as he fell from the top of the Montparnasse tower. Gabriel paused the video just before she set him down on solid ground. Adrien's eyes were fixed on his rescuer. He hadn't transformed, even at the risk of his own life, because he had such faith in her.

But it was the ineptitude of Gabriel's own minion that had put Adrien in that perilous situation in the first place. That was enough to give him pause, when he wanted nothing more than to send an army of akumas, if such a thing were only possible, to storm the Dupain-Cheng house and bring his son back home, with or without the other miraculous.

Gabriel closed the video file, hitting the touch screen with more force than necessary, and pulled back up the photograph that had initially sparked his suspicions. Adrien's smiling face beamed at him, and the girl's red earrings glinted tantalizingly, as they had the day before. Adrien had said he was trying.

One more day, Gabriel decided. This girl, Ladybug or not, was apparently someone important to his son. She could have Adrien for one more day, and then, if he still had nothing to show for his efforts, his son was coming home, one way or another.

* * *

The following day was Saturday, and Adrien's call did not come at the usual time. When Gabriel tried calling him, he only got his voicemail. He didn't bother to leave a message. His son knew what he wanted.

He might have simply slept in, Gabriel tried to reassure himself. Normally, Adrien got up just as early on Saturday as he did during the week, to spend at least an hour practicing the piano before any photoshoots he had to do. But the Dupain-Cheng household might not be keeping him to such a rigorous schedule.

He tried to get some work done while he waited for the call, but he was too distracted to even finish a sketch. He kept checking and re-checking his phone all morning, even though he knew perfectly well it had not rung. At noon, he sent Nathalie to check in on things, while he tried calling Adrien again. Voicemail, the same as before. This time, he left a message.

"This isn't amusing, Adrien," he scolded, rolling the pencil he had been sketching with between his fingers. "I know you haven't forgotten the terms on which I allowed you to stay with your friend. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to provoke me into-"

A low beeping tone sounded in his ear, informing him he had an incoming call. Hastily, he ended the voicemail message so he could answer it. But it was only Nathalie, calling to report in.

Gabriel swiped angrily at the green icon to take the call. "What is my son playing at?" he demanded.

"He's not here," Nathalie said calmly. Gabriel's grip on the pencil tightened, and he felt it snap. "According to the girl's parents, she and Adrien went to the movies."

It was a plausible explanation for why Adrien might not be answering his phone now, but not for why he wouldn't have called that morning. And Gabriel had his doubts about the story anyway. They might have told the girl's parents that's what they were doing, but he didn't see how a movie date would figure into Adrien's efforts either to fulfill the task he had given him, or to subvert his plans. No, his son was surely up to something, and the girl was an accomplice in it, wittingly or unwittingly.

"Find out what theater they went to," Gabriel ground out, dropping the broken pencil into the trash bin by his desk. "And then make sure he's really there."

"Understood," Nathalie replied. Gabriel ended the call. There was someone, at least, who could be relied upon to do what she was told.

He drummed his fingers against the desk for a moment, then pushed back his chair forcefully and stood. He was halfway across the room to the secret passageway when his phone rang again. It was Adrien at last.

"How was the movie?" Gabriel asked sarcastically.

But Adrien didn't take the bait. "Stop sending Nathalie to spy on me," he said accusingly. "Aren't you good enough at doing that yourself?"

"What makes you think," Gabriel replied, voice cold with anger, "that you are in any position to make demands of me?"

There was silence on the other end of the line for a few seconds, before Adrien answered boldly, "Because I know the one thing you want almost as much as the miraculous is for me to come home." Gabriel frowned at that _almost._ There was no comparing the two goals, couldn't his son see that? They were one and the same, bringing the family back together, keeping them safe. "And I know you'll do whatever it takes to get what you want."

"Do you think I have no other way of getting you back," Gabriel said in frustration, marching the rest of the way over to the portrait of his wife, "besides indulging in these childish games of yours?"

"Not without breaking your promise," Adrien pointed out.

Gabriel laid his free hand against the painting, but did not press the hidden trigger mechanism. "The promise to which you refer," he said slowly, letting his son absorb every word, "was in fact only a deal. If you don't uphold your end, I don't have to uphold mine."

"I told you," Adrien said, a hint of desperation creeping into his voice. "I'm trying to find another way to get her back. But you can't use the miraculous the way you want to. It's too dangerous. Whatever you do with it-"

"Is that what Ladybug told you?" Gabriel cut him off. He all but spat the superhero's name.

"So what if it is?" Adrien replied defensively. "I trust her."

Once again, it was Ladybug that his son trusted, Ladybug he listened to, even when he knew she was keeping his mother from him. Gabriel couldn't see what she had done to inspire such blind loyalty. "That may be your mistake," he observed darkly.

There was a long silence. "No," Adrien said at last. "My mistake was thinking you'd ever listen to me." And for the third time in a row, his son hung up on him.

Gabriel returned his phone to his breast pocket, and pressed the hidden buttons on the painting. He'd given Adrien enough chances. The hands-off approach wasn't working. It was time to be more proactive.

* * *

It was Marinette Dupain-Cheng's mother who had been akumatized this time, after Nathalie had riled her up with rude questions and condescending remarks. Unfortunately, she had proven no more successful than any of her predecessors, utterly failing to capture Chat Noir before Ladybug neutralized the akuma. Nooroo whimpered pathetically after Gabriel detransformed, but Gabriel ignored the kwami and returned to his atelier, calling up the Ladybug and Chat Noir files on his computer again. Nothing was working. He'd need to come up with yet another strategy…

Yet the hours he spent, well into the night, reviewing everything he knew or suspected and turning over ways to use it proved fruitless. All possibilities amounted to more of the same: send another akuma, which Ladybug would most likely thwart, or convince Adrien to cooperate on his own, which would only become more difficult as the boy grew more stubborn. Another effect of Ladybug's meddlesome influence, no doubt.

His brooding was interrupted as the doors flew open, slamming against the wall, and Adrien himself stormed into the room. Gabriel noticed immediately that he wasn't wearing his ring.

"This has to stop," Adrien declared.

Gabriel crossed the room in an instant, stopping just short of grabbing his son by both shoulders. "I agree," he said.

"You're not getting the miraculous," Adrien insisted, his voice quavering with emotion. "But you can have me."

"You're agreeing to come home?" Gabriel asked in surprise. It couldn't be that easy. After three days of defiance, his son would willingly come to him now?

"I'll come home," Adrien confirmed. "I'll follow all your rules. I won't even go to school anymore, if you don't want me to." He swallowed, blinked, and all the boldness was gone from him, replaced with only desperate pleading. "But you have to leave Marinette and her family alone."

Gabriel took both his son's hands in his own and turned them over, examining the bare fingers. "You still think you can make demands," he said softly.

"Father, please," Adrien begged. "What you did to her mother...Marinette was so scared…"

"Does she know you've renounced your miraculous?" Gabriel asked. Adrien blinked at him in surprise and...was that a hint of fear? "Ladybug, I mean," he clarified. Was it relief, or merely resolved confusion that softened his son's features?

"She'll find someone else to wield it," Adrien said. Gabriel noted that this was not actually an answer to his question. "Anyone can be Chat Noir."

"So now, instead of having one of the two miraculous we need, we have none," Gabriel summarized, not letting go of Adrien's hands. He was further from obtaining the power he needed than he had been before he had revealed the truth to his son. Had this all been a mistake?

"But I'm here," Adrien reminded him. "Ladybug will keep looking for another way to find Mom, and you won't have to worry about me trying to run away anymore."

Gabriel's grip on his hands tightened. That was not an inconsiderable gain, on its own, especially after the last few days, if Adrien could truly be relied upon to stay put. "You will stay here with me, even if I continue my efforts to obtain the miraculous?" Gabriel challenged.

"Ladybug will stop you," Adrien said confidently. "Like she always does. Just leave Marinette out of it."

"Answer the question," Gabriel admonished, growing impatient with his son's evasive responses.

Adrien looked up at him in silence, more helpless than defiant. "Yes," he finally said in a small voice, barely more than a whisper. "As long as Marinette's family is safe, I'll stay here." His shoulders sagged and his eyes dropped to the floor. "Ladybug can handle the rest without me."

It didn't escape Gabriel's notice how Adrien spoke of his friend and the superhero as two different people. Was this still more dissembling? Did Adrien not realize the two were one and the same? Or were Gabriel's suspicions unfounded? He couldn't see why Adrien would offer himself as a hostage for the Dupain-Cheng girl's safety if she were Ladybug, and Adrien was so certain that his father was no match for her. But if she were not Ladybug, why had Adrien turned to her in his moment of crisis?

"Very well," Gabriel said. "I agree to your terms." Whatever the case may be, neither Ladybug nor Marinette Dupain-Cheng would have anything further to do with his son. If that put the miraculous that much further out of his reach, it was a tradeoff he would have to accept for Adrien's security and obedience. Gabriel had gambled with telling him the truth, and now it was time to cut his losses.

He hugged his son, and Adrien did not push him away this time, though he didn't return the hug either. "Go get some rest now," Gabriel told him gently. "We'll discuss your school arrangements tomorrow."

Adrien nodded, wished him a perfunctory goodnight, and left the room. Gabriel stood in the doorway for a moment, watching his son make his way up the stairs to his room, each step heavy with defeat. It was better this way, Gabriel reminded himself. Adrien might not be happy right now, but he was home, he was safe, and he would attempt no more foolish acts of rebellion.

When Adrien had disappeared into his bedroom, Gabriel shut the door, turning to face the wide, empty room of his atelier once more. The portrait of his wife smiled serenely as ever at him from the far wall. Yes, his losses today were not nearly as bad as they could have been.


End file.
